Call for stronger population control

Expressing concern over the increase in population, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday said family planning needs to be the "focus" of not only his ministry but all other ministries given the magnitude of the problem. "Almost 20 years back when I was Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister in the Naraismha Rao's Ministry, there was some health-related discussion in the cabinet and I had suggested that the pace at which our population is increasing, restricting family planning under the Health Ministry won't yield any results.

"Each and every ministry along with their departments should focus on family planning," he said at the 'National Dialogue for Population Stabilisation for a Better Tomorrow' programme on the occasion of World Population Day here. He further said that the country's development in infrastructure always falls short of the people's requirement.

Highlighting the magnitude of the problem, he added only 2.4 per cent of the world's landmass belongs to India, which supports 17 per cent of the world's population."There is hardly any piece of land that we have not dug either for roads, cultivation or deforestation. The land available is not enough for our population," he said.

However, he said over time, there have been constant efforts on the part of the government to stabilise the population and the family planning programme has also evolved.